If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: World Cup 2010

Since I nailed the Champions League Final, I will try to continue my run and say that the US will defeat England, in a rematch of each team's opener, and the Revolutionary War, to win the most historic of World Cups.

Re: World Cup 2010

My avatar says it all...We should make it out of group play, and I hope we can maybe surprise some people. I really wish we had Davies up front. I don't like our other options next to Altidore. Donovan needs to have a huge cup.

Though I think the team to beat is Spain and I would love to see a Spain vs. Argentina final where Messi does something amazing and then Maradona has relations doggie style with a prostitute at midfield while waving his arms around and yelling I'm alive or whatever like Jason Statham in the first Crank.

(The sad part is that Maradona could do this, and you would only be a little bit surprised at this point...)

The Following User Says Thank You to Trader Joe For This Useful Post:

Re: World Cup 2010

Seriously though, the favorites have to be Spain and Brazil. I think those two are far and away the best teams in the world right now. Spain will most likely be my favorite team to watch. No country in the world can match them for the number of playmakers they can put on the field. David Villa, Torres (if healthy), Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, David Silva, Sergio Ramos... they are just absolutely stacked with world class players, and there certainly is no lack of flair there either.

I'm not as excited about the prospect of watching this Brazil side. Kaka is a great player obviously but no one else on that team excites me. Defensively they are completely solid with their back four, two holding midfielders, and Julio Cesar at the top of his game. I hope I'm wrong and they don't get out of their group. I'd rather see the likes of Portugal and Ivory Coast advance.

I like the Dutch team, they are another team that should be very fun to watch. But I don't understand what's going on with Van Persie and Kuyt. This seems like Mourning's area of expertise, and I'm really curious to see his thoughts. Methinks, RVP needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut and play. I don't really disagree with him, I think it makes sense to find a way to get both Sneijder and Van der Vaart on the field at the same time, but I don't like the way he publicly took a run at his potential strike partner.

I will probably root for England in every game after the first one. Rooney had as good of a year as any player in the world. Gerrard and Lampard are as good individually as any country could hope for, but they have never really played well together, and I'm still skeptical they will in South Africa. Their back four could be the best in the world if everyone was coming into the tournament at full strength, but that's clearly not the case. Ferdinand was not even close to being world class for United this past season. Terry had a similar down year at Chelsea and couldn't keep his pants on. Which perfectly leads us to the left back position and Ashley Cole, who if he was healthy and in the right mindset, is probably the best left back on the planet. I can't say I blame those guys. If I had the access to the women they do in their country... game on. All in all, I don't think England is as good as they think they are. I'm interested to see what Capello can do with these guys in the knockout stage.

I think those are the four best teams in the tournament, and the winner likely will come from that group. The main stays like Germany, Italy, France, and Argentina should be fun to watch, but I don't know if any of them are good enough to win the whole thing. I will take a strong interest in both Portugal and Ivory Coast in the hope that they will keep Brazil out of the knockout phase.

I'm going to break this into multiple posts since it's so long, and I doubt there are many big soccer fans here anyway.

Re: World Cup 2010

Spain's roster is stacked, it really is insane when you start to list it out. Although, I can't wait to see Villa in Barca colors.

I think England will disappoint. That first game between us and them will surely be something else to watch, and I think we could see both teams expend a lot of energy on that. In fact, I think right now either team USA or England is going to fail to advance out of the group and that is going to be the early on big disappointment of the tournament.

Unless Brazil shows up lazy, and does get surprised by a team like the Ivory Coast. Then that would be an even bigger deal.

Re: World Cup 2010

But most importantly, as a patriotic member of Sam's Army, I feel obliged to impart my feelings on the American team. I think South Africa offers a perfect opportunity to build on the 2002 campaign (2006... let's just act like that didn't really happen). There are so many injury concerns with this team, the largest of which (figuratively, and in his case, certainly literally, as well) is obviously Oguchi Onyewu. I think once Gooch is healthy and has a few more years of top-flight European football in him he's going to be as good of a central defender as anyone. AC Milan seems like a perfect place for this to happen, if he can find the playing time, which is definitely not ever a guarantee at a club like that.

I think Demerit and Onyewu will make a solid central defense pairing. Bocanegra is better in the middle as well, but will have to play out left due to no other viable options. I'm feeling better about Cherundolo after his showing in the past couple friendlies, but I think he's (or whoever else happens to occupy the other defensive position) definitely the weak link in defense. Luckily, the US is as solid at the goalkeeping position as anyone could hope for. I would take any of the three American keepers before any of the England options. Howard has a case as being one of the world's best, and Guzan and Hahnemann offer great, experienced depth. While Onyewu's injury situation is scary, the back five almost pick themselves, which isn't necessarily a bad problem to have.

There are lots of potential options in the midfield. Michael Bradley is as much a core member of the team as Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, or anyone else. He's good for 90 minutes every game provided he doesn't get any stupid cards, which he is certainly susceptible to. The 2nd center midfield position is one of the other few question marks on this team. I like the defensive option that Maurice Edu brings, but personally I'm also in favor of Ricardo Clark in that position. I think those are the two best options to start games next to Bradley who is more fond of ranging up field. I love that Bradley recalled Demarcus Beasley. The Fort Wayne native, like Cherundolo and Donovan, has played in two World Cups, so his experience will be important. He can even potentially cover at left back if needed, which may be if Cherundolo or Bocanegra struggle. Torres, Feilhaber, and Holder are all good attacking options in the midfield, but I think they are better coming off the bench in situations when we need a goal.

I love the Donovan/Dempsey tandem out wide, and when there are two solid striking options like Altidore and Davies, the attacking four is more than formidable enough to score goals on any country in the tournament. The unfortunate absence of Davies, however, changes everything. I'm curious to see just what Bob Bradley decides to do. You can write Altidore's name in Sharpie on the lineup card, but who is paired up front with him is anybody's guess. Moving either Donovan or Dempsey up is one possibility to make use of the ample options available in the midfield. Personally, I think Dempsey plays better as a 2nd striker anyway, so I think that's the best option. However, if that was Bradley's plan all along, I really doubt he would have kept all three of Buddle, Gomez, and Findley. I don't follow MLS or the Mexican League closely, so I don't know much about those guys. I was intrigued by Gomez in the game against the Czechs, and Findley was even more impressive against Turkey. I have to think he brought them along with the intentions of playing them, so I think we'll see the US start out with a line up of:

Is the lineup good enough to win the whole thing? Maybe. It's definitely good enough to get out of the group, and I think we have a good chance to take some points from England in the opener. Ballack being out for Germany is huge, since they are a likely opponent in the first knockout round. After that it's anyone's guess. I don't think the US will win by any means, but they are good enough to beat anyone on any given day. Unfortunately, they also could lose to anyone. If we don't advance from our group, the World Cup has to be considered a resounding failure. If we get the the quarterfinals, I think it will be a success. Anything beyond that is just gravy, and we're playing with house money.

In case you can't tell, I'm freaking pumped for June 12th. I went with my best friend yesterday and we got a brand new 63" Samsung 3D TV with the glasses, and a state of the art Bose surround sound to go with it. I helped him set it all up in his basement and we watched Monsters vs. Aliens (the only 3D Blu-Ray movie currently available) to test it out. It was ridiculous. I can't even describe the awe I felt. The whole reason for his purchase was in anticipation of the World Cup being broadcast in 3D. It's going to be insane. I can't freaking wait.

Re: World Cup 2010

My avatar says it all...We should make it out of group play, and I hope we can maybe surprise some people. I really wish we had Davies up front. I don't like our other options next to Altidore. Donovan needs to have a huge cup.

Though I think the team to beat is Spain and I would love to see a Spain vs. Argentina final where Messi does something amazing and then Maradona has relations doggie style with a prostitute at midfield while waving his arms around and yelling I'm alive or whatever like Jason Statham in the first Crank.

(The sad part is that Maradona could do this, and you would only be a little bit surprised at this point...)

Love your avatar, Stylez might have to steal it from June 12th-July 11th.

Argentina is a mess. I have no idea what they were thinking when they hired Maradona. Maybe we should take a page from their playbook and see if we can convince Doc Gooden to coach our team in the next World Baseball Classic.

Re: World Cup 2010

Argentina is a mess, but Messi is a transcendent enough talent, that if he catches fire in the bracket play, watch out. He's good enough to carry them through two or three games IMO.

Dempsey as the second striker is interesting. Buddle probably plays closest to Davies of the three available strikers, he has pretty good speed IMO, but he's not even close to being as polished. I'm sick that we lost Davies. Altidore, Donovan, Dempsey, and Davies has shown just how potent it can be against Spain and Brazil. Oh well, time to move on with what we have.

Re: World Cup 2010

My avatar says it all...We should make it out of group play, and I hope we can maybe surprise some people. I really wish we had Davies up front. I don't like our other options next to Altidore. Donovan needs to have a huge cup.

Though I think the team to beat is Spain and I would love to see a Spain vs. Argentina final where Messi does something amazing and then Maradona has relations doggie style with a prostitute at midfield while waving his arms around and yelling I'm alive or whatever like Jason Statham in the first Crank.

(The sad part is that Maradona could do this, and you would only be a little bit surprised at this point...)

I actually like Gomez, especially if he comes off the bench. He seems lately to have a knack for doing some damage. I thought the addition of Findley was a little weird, but he showed against Turkey how valuable it is to have someone stretch the field. It really opened things up for us, so he may have a role to play. I might start him and bring in Gomez later on.

I think the key for us is defense. It really hasn't looked good, so that has to be better. Spector and Bornstein have been awful, so I'd expect Cherundolo and Bocanegra to start and hopefully play through against England at least.

I think for us to have a successful cup, we need to get out of group stage. After that it's all wonderful. We'd likely have to face Germany in the rd of 16, so that would be tough.

As for who I think would win, I'd say Spain/Brazil/England. Honestly, they look the best to me. Spain SHOULD win, but who knows with them. They lost to us last year, so...

Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

Re: World Cup 2010

I actually like Gomez, especially if he comes off the bench. He seems lately to have a knack for doing some damage. I thought the addition of Findley was a little weird, but he showed against Turkey how valuable it is to have someone stretch the field. It really opened things up for us, so he may have a role to play. I might start him and bring in Gomez later on.

I think the key for us is defense. It really hasn't looked good, so that has to be better. Spector and Bornstein have been awful, so I'd expect Cherundolo and Bocanegra to start and hopefully play through against England at least.

I think for us to have a successful cup, we need to get out of group stage. After that it's all wonderful. We'd likely have to face Germany in the rd of 16, so that would be tough.

As for who I think would win, I'd say Spain/Brazil/England. Honestly, they look the best to me. Spain SHOULD win, but who knows with them. They lost to us last year, so...

Gomez is the wild card. I don't like Findley.
Altidore is big and strong enough to play a sole striker role with Dempsey and Donovan acting as attacking mids and I think this will be a lineup we see especially if we jump out to early leads at any point.

Defense IMO will get together once Gooch is better adjusted to game speed which will hopefully occur during practice this next week and not during the first half of the England game.

Re: World Cup 2010

I'm looking forward to the World Cup Soccer in South Africa.

My favorites to win it all are: Spain, Brasil, Germany and Argentina.
The group of countries that could go far or knock some of the above named off are IMHO: Italy, Portugal, South Africa (home court advantage always plays a role), France, England and The Netherlands.

With regards to my own country:
the biggest dangers we face are as always an average defence, being in the tough part of the draw (Italy, Spain, Brasil.... ) and some players starting to talk too much in the press. Van Persie has a bit of rep with regards to this last thing and the last named danger is the biggest IMHO.

I think especially offensively there are few countries which have the wealth of offensive oriented midfielders and attackers that we pretty much always bring to bear. Tactically The Netherlands has been a very sound team with a lot of good passing and usually an attractive type of soccer to watch.

With regards to this coming World Cup... I don't see us winning it or even getting to the final, I do think we are capable of beating ANYONE under the right circumstances. This time I think we should be able to win our group. And we better do, because in the second round we face the number 2 of the group Italy is in, unless we end up number 2 in our group. In that scenario Italy is our likely opponent, not something you want (even though we thoroughly killed them in the first EC match).

IF we survive that round NORMALLY (but, when does that ever happen) we should face Brasil... ugh... personally, I think that's when we go out. OTOH anything could happen. Two years ago we beat both WC-finalists Italy and France and then Romania to advance to the knockout stages where we faced pretty much a horror opponent... Guus Hiddink and Russia.

Now if someone knows how Dutch soccer works it's Hiddink. The best Dutch coach around IMHO though van Marwijk seems to pretty damn good too (currently a record 18-game streak without a loss).

Anyway, I hope we can win it, but I don't think and expect it too happen. I would LOVE for us to finally beat Brasil sometime again in a WC. That alone, together with going pretty far and beating one or more of my top-4 WC candidates or the group below that would make me a very, very happy Dutchman .

Re: World Cup 2010

I don't follow soccer to closely, but the US has now won thier last 2 games since finalizing their world cup roster. We beat Australia 3-1 today in another friendly game. The world cup is always exciting to watch.

Re: World Cup 2010

My favorites to win it all are: Spain, Brasil, Germany and Argentina.
The group of countries that could go far or knock some of the above named off are IMHO: Italy, Portugal, South Africa (home court advantage always plays a role), France, England and The Netherlands.

With regards to my own country:
the biggest dangers we face are as always an average defence, being in the tough part of the draw (Italy, Spain, Brasil.... ) and some players starting to talk too much in the press. Van Persie has a bit of rep with regards to this last thing and the last named danger is the biggest IMHO.

I think especially offensively there are few countries which have the wealth of offensive oriented midfielders and attackers that we pretty much always bring to bear. Tactically The Netherlands has been a very sound team with a lot of good passing and usually an attractive type of soccer to watch.

With regards to this coming World Cup... I don't see us winning it or even getting to the final, I do think we are capable of beating ANYONE under the right circumstances. This time I think we should be able to win our group. And we better do, because in the second round we face the number 2 of the group Italy is in, unless we end up number 2 in our group. In that scenario Italy is our likely opponent, not something you want (even though we thoroughly killed them in the first EC match).

IF we survive that round NORMALLY (but, when does that ever happen) we should face Brasil... ugh... personally, I think that's when we go out. OTOH anything could happen. Two years ago we beat both WC-finalists Italy and France and then Romania to advance to the knockout stages where we faced pretty much a horror opponent... Guus Hiddink and Russia.

Now if someone knows how Dutch soccer works it's Hiddink. The best Dutch coach around IMHO though van Marwijk seems to pretty damn good too (currently a record 18-game streak without a loss).

Anyway, I hope we can win it, but I don't think and expect it too happen. I would LOVE for us to finally beat Brasil sometime again in a WC. That alone, together with going pretty far and beating one or more of my top-4 WC candidates or the group below that would make me a very, very happy Dutchman .

I'm Korean, but as they won't be doing anything notable in their group (Argentina, Nigeria, Greece) I'm rooting for the Dutch, god knows this is going to be their year finally. I think RvP will do something magical (but I'm biased as an Arsenal fan) but I've got questions about the defense... but I think Brazil is a pretty favourable matchup for the Netherlands this time around - their squad is the weakest I've seen in some time and quite a few of the players (Kaka etc) haven't been in top form. I hear Robben got injured, how long will he be out for?

Spain can go to hell. As much as I love Cesc I can't support a team that is full of those douchebags from Barcelona (except David Villa who only joined just recently, though I give him half a season before he starts talking about how Cesc should be at Barcelona blah blah blah). Same goes for England.

Maradona will find some way to mess the whole thing up for Messi.

I think either the Germans or the Dutch will win the whole thing. Just a hunch.

Re: World Cup 2010

Well I might suddenly become the most unpopular person in the thread, as i'm English through and through!

Personally, i think the favourites have got to be Spain, then Brazil, followed by Netherlands, Portugal and England as the most likely to disrupt that final.

Both England and USA are incredibly lucky with the group we have drawn. I personally don't think USA are likely to make it past last 16 as I think we will win on Saturday, USA then would come second in the group )assuming no upsets) and i think would lose against Germany in the last 16.

Having said that, I think the USA team is vastly improved over the last few years, just not to a level that can compete with the top 8 or 9 teams in the world.

As for my England boys, I think we have all the potential make a legit challenge for the trophy, but we often have all the promise in the world and fail, so i don't want to put my foot in it. We've got talent, but so have other teams!

I personally put Rooney right up there with Ronaldo and Messi as one of the top few players in the world, and i dont think he will disappoint. I think with Gerrand and Lampard in central midfield we are always likely to create chances, and even with a relatively weaker second striker (whether it is Crouch, Defoe or Heskey) I still think we will score goals.

Our defence worries me more. Losing Rio was a disappointment. Ledley King is one of the most gifted players, but fitness and injury problems, as well as simply not playing as much football as we would have liked him too over the last few year (particularly as he has hardly played along side Terry) is a concern i think. Cole is, although followed by controvasy off the pitch, one of the best left backs in the world on the pitch, but recent injury is not ideal, and Glenn Johnson, while a threat going forward, doesn't fill me with confidence at the back, as he showed by conceding a clumsy penalty in out final friendly today. All in all, our back four, i believe will be what decides how well we do this world cup. If it gells and plays tigtly together, we could punnish our critics, but if we leak goals then we may well struggle!

One big loss, i believe, for the game agains the USA is Gareth Barry, who, for the last few years has provided very valuable cover infront of the defence, allowing freedom for Gerrard and/or Lampard. His injury i believe is a real loss for England, i really hope he regains fitness for the later rounds if we get there!

More importantly, i am thoroughly looking forward to the world cup, the game against the USA should be fun the watch, and hopefully, the Final will be as well with the 3 lions bringing football home!

'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Re: World Cup 2010

I'm scared to death about Gooch. He hasn't played 90 minutes since his injury in October. If he starts against England he's going to be a serious question mark.

Our entire defense is a question mark. They haven't played that great at all. It looked a little better against the Aussies, but it isn't where it needs to be for us to beat England.

I really liked Buddle in the last friendly. I thought Findley was able to stretch the team, but his finishing was turrrible. Assuming Altidore is healthy, I think it best to start him with Buddle, and then bring in Gomez as a sub. If we can't stretch the field, then maybe Findley as well. Torres needs to play heavy minutes IMO, too, because I think he and Bradley go well together. Hopefully a lineup like that will let Donovan and Dempsey do what they need to do.

Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.